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At first glance, it appears the Senators were taken to the cleaners in Tuesday's trade with the Dallas Stars for Jason Spezza.

Well maybe they were, and maybe they weren't.

What if Spezza, who is eligible to become a UFA next July, decides to leave Dallas after one year? And what if one or all of Alex Chiasson, Alex Guptill and Nick Paul become permanent, important fixtures in Ottawa?

Who wins the deal then?

And then there's the second round pick in what is expected to be a strong 2015 draft.

"It's like I said to (team owner) Mr. (Eugene) Melnyk earlier today, I remember when I traded (Antoine) Vermette, it was a tough day," said GM Bryan Murray. "We got back Pascal (LeClaire), he didn't play a lot of games for us, but our second-round pick (that came with him) was Robin Lehner, who is going to be a starting goaltender in the NHL for what we think will be a long time."

The Senators weren't going to win the Stanley Cup next season no matter what Spezza fetched them. Could they have done better had they waited a couple of months? Possibly. But Murray doesn't think so, and he didn't want another Dany Heatley summer saga on his hands.

Is Chiasson a solid prospect? Yes. He scored six goals in his first six NHL games, two years ago. He has strong playmaking skills from the wing. He's been called a "more talented version" of Blake Wheeler. And he's got some grit.

"Chiasson is a young, big strong guy that has big potential, we think," said Murray. "Our scouts as a whole group like him a lot. He's a real competitive guy to start off with. He's a big kid that comes off the wing, goes to the net, he can be a net front presence on things like the power play and net drives. It looks like he has an ability to score points and goals. And he's a hard working kid.

"I know last year he kind of dropped off in the middle (of the season), he had an illness that didn't allow him to have the year he and Dallas thought he could have. At the end of the day, after looking at the whole package that he brings, we just think he's a guy that can fit in here and be part of the team that we're now going to try and build...and that is more determined, harder working team with more than one or two individuals to get points here. We're going to have to work for our points, no doubt about that.

As for Guptill and Paul, well, nobody really knows what they will be. The Senators, however, do like their potential.

"Alex Guptill has size, speed, a big shot. Those are the evaluations I got from our scouting staff," said Murray. "Paul played in North Bay ... the observations we have are (he has) hockey sense, good skill, and that he's a first line centre that led the team to the OHL finals.

"We got two young prospects that without a doubt are NHL calibre candidates. It's a time thing."

Indeed, the Senators lose the trade as far as the immediate future goes -- just as Murray predicted they would.

But like most deals involving multiple players and prospects, the true winner of the Spezza trade won't be determined for some time yet.

THE SPEZZA RETURN

In dealing captain Jason Spezza and East Coast Hockey League forward Ludwig Karlsson to the Dallas Stars, the Senators retrieved a second round pick in 2015 and these three players:

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Time will tell who won trade

At first glance, it appears the Senators were taken to the cleaners in Tuesday's trade with the Dallas Stars for Jason Spezza.

Well maybe they were, and maybe they weren't.

What if Spezza, who is eligible to become a UFA next July, decides to leave Dallas after one year? And what if one or all of Alex Chiasson, Alex Guptill and Nick Paul become permanent, important fixtures in Ottawa?

Who wins the deal then?

And then there's the second round pick in what is expected to be a strong 2015 draft.

"It's like I said to (team owner) Mr. (Eugene) Melnyk earlier today, I remember when I traded (Antoine) Vermette, it was a tough day," said GM Bryan Murray. "We got back Pascal (LeClaire), he didn't play a lot of games for us, but our second-round pick (that came with him) was Robin Lehner, who is going to be a starting goaltender in the NHL for what we think will be a long time."